Where to To Trade-In Your Old Busted iOS Devices to Help Pay for iPad Newness

The release of new iPad a day and some hours away, and Apple’s pre-orders have sold out. Still, many are looking to upgrade, and for those wary of eBay, and Craigslist, Apple and few others are willing to give you money for your old-busted (still capable) iPad 2.

Apple’s own “Reuse and Recycling Program” will shell-out up to $320 for your old nearly mint conditioned 64GB 3G iPad 2. Prices go down steadily from their though. Also, Apple’s money comes in the form of an Apple Store gift card. Not a deal breaker if you’re putting the entirety of your trade-in toward a new iPad, but if you’re looking for cash, not quite the way to go.

Other third-party solutions like Gazelle, or ecoNew provide similarly priced trade-in values and deliver the money on pre-paid Visa cards. Amazon trade-ins can net interested consumers as much as $460 for pristine 64GB 3G iPad 2s, but the trade-in value is again rewarded on Amazon gift cards. Considering how much crap you can order from Amazon, that isn’t too shabby of a deal.

However, the best combination of money and flexibility comes from Gamestop. Their still infant tablet return program pays customers in cash, and can net those trading in a 64GB 3G AT&T iPad as much as $400. For some unknown reason the Verizon 3G equivalent only nets customers $340.

If you’re looking to offset the cost of Apple’s latest and greatest, the previously mentioned solutions offer a sense of security public-parking lot Craigslist deals don’t, albeit for potentially less money. If you’re comfortable exchanging information with strangers, and weathering the torrent of Nigerian check scam emails that comes with a Craigslist ad, more power to you.